New Beginnings
by francis2
Summary: Mick needs a new license. This poses a problem. Written for a challenge.


Written for a New Beginnings challenge. Inspiration by Tam. She posted a screencap of Mick's PI license, and I noticed the expiration date.

I don't own anything.

Mick sat in his office, his head in his hands, looking at a small card with a blue streak across the top and his photo on it.

When Beth came in she could almost taste his despair in the air.

She softly took his arms in her hands, turned the swivel chair around and sat down on his lap. He smiled up at her.

"What has you so riled up, Mick?" she asked. His whole body language had her worried.

"There's a decision to be made. My PI license expires on the 15th of June. If I want to continue this job, I need a new one."

"So what's the problem?"

"Whenever I renew the license they do a background check. Last time in 2006 it was risky already, but I had Logan tamper with my data and update all the documents, the birth certificate and so on. This time there's probably a police file somewhere with all the cases that relate to me in some form or other. You know, the Ellis case, the escort kidnapping, Lee Jay, Leni Hayes, Emma Monaghan. Too many loose ends. I shouldn't … Maybe I need to relocate. It's becoming too dangerous. If someone like Carl connects all the dots…"

Beth snuggled into his chest, deep in thought.

"We could move to San Francisco," she suggested.

"Wait, how do you figure that?" He lifted his chin up from her hair, surprised at her sudden declaration.

"You know that I don't really fit into the D.A.'s office. Ben is a nice enough boss, but half the time I don't know what I'm doing there. The research I do is something everyone could do. I miss being able to connect the dots myself, and publish what I find. Last week I got a job offer from a newspaper in San Francisco. It's probably not far enough away, but…"

"Beth, are you sure about this? You would leave everything behind."

She looked up at him, tears shining in her lashes. "Everything but you. Nothing else counts, Mick. As long as I have you."

He swallowed hard. "Okay. If we go through with this, you go there first. Take the job, rent a flat or a house, start your life. I would fake my death here in L.A., after you're gone, and you would need to come to the funeral, to keep up the pretense. Ben would know it's fake if you don't show up and mourn a bit. He knows we're an item. After that I would have Josef's people forge a new identity for me, and move to San Francisco. We could meet there again."

"So you say, that with a bit of patience, we could start fresh? Meet somewhere by chance, say, on a case, date a few times, fall in love, and then I would somehow find out that you're a vampire, and convince you that it doesn't matter, and we would live happily everafter?"

He smiled. "That would be cool, wouldn't it?"

"How much patience do we talk about, Mick? Cause I'm not the girl who waits in the car."

"A month, two maybe. I need to liquidate my assets and plan this really carefully. I don't want the police to catch wind. I will need to tell Josef about this, and say goodbye. I will really miss him. And you would need time to get over my death, you know."

"Hmmm. I hope I recognize you when we meet again."

He rearranged her across his lap. "I would probably cut my hair, lose the sideburns. Dress a bit differently, not so dark. More V-neck T-shirts, less henley. What do you think?"

She pondered. "I like the henleys. You should stop wearing a thick coat in hot weather, though. I would miss your locks and sideburns. But as I said, as long as I have you."

"I would have a different name. What do you think of Steve?"

"How about Elliott?" she giggled.

He pushed her legs around his hips and lifted her with effortless grace. "Let's go celebrate."

He walked into the kitchen, sat her down on the bar stool and opened a bottle of wine.

"To new beginnings."

"To us, finding each other again."

The future would be different, but it would still be their future. Filled with apprehension and joy, they planned out their new start together.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx


End file.
